1. Field of the Invention
The disclosures herein generally relate to a semiconductor manufacturing method and a plasma processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known that when a semiconductor wafer is dry-etched, a part of a conductive layer including metal such as Cu wiring formed on the semiconductor wafer is exposed (see Patent Documents 1 through 4, for example). In this state, when the semiconductor wafer is exposed to the atmosphere, the exposed conductive layer reacts with moisture in the atmosphere and changes over time, resulting in corrosion. In order to minimize the corrosion of the conductive layer, a period of time (what is known as a “Q-time”) from a dry etching process being ended until a next process being started has been managed.
Meanwhile, in order to prevent the conductive layer from being corroded, coating a conductive layer with a protective film has been proposed. For example, in Patent Document 1, method for coating a metal film such as Cu wiring with a protective film by applying a liquid for immersion exposure during a lithography process has been proposed.
However, in the above-described techniques, when a semiconductor wafer that has been etched is transferred to an exposure apparatus, the semiconductor wafer is exposed to the atmosphere before being coated with a protective film.
Therefore, the above-described techniques are insufficient to prevent an exposed metal film from being corroded. Further, the above-described techniques require the exposure apparatus in addition to an etching apparatus, resulting in an increase in costs.